At least 33 people are killed and 75 others injured in two car bombs in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, security and medical officials say.

A police official said the first explosion took place around midday Sunday near government offices in the center of Samawa, while the second blast occurred minutes later at a bus station in an open-air area.

"The hospitals have received 33 dead," AFP quoted a senior official in the Muthanna health department, which covers Samawa, as saying.

Samawa, a Shia-dominated city, is located some 370km south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The official also noted that the death toll from both blasts is expected to rise. A medical official also confirmed the number of casualties.

Online photographs showed huge plumes of smoke rising above buildings and a number of burnt out cars and bodies lying on the ground at the site of the first attack.

The Takfiri group Daesh claimed responsibility for both attacks.

By Press TV